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Thursday

Outdoor Beautification Plans ... And Do You Have Tips?

It's not that we are running out of improvements to make on the inside of the house (because trust me, we have lots of work to do still!) but we are starting to turn our attention outdoors ... which is a lot of fun! The temps are moving from "sweltering" to "not as sweltering" here in Charlotte and I have to say that I actually kind of like beautifying the yard when I don't have to worry about a sunburn in five minutes.

We had our lawn-moving service guy over to quote us on removing the existing plants in the beds and that quote was $700 ... um, yeahhhhhNO. I know my frugality halts me sometimes, but seven-hunny just to clean slate our beds? I just think that's extraordinarily high. There are 9 plants there of varying sizes but nothing crazy huge.

So tell me here if I'm being cheap or smart(ish). Ian wants to rip everything out and start anew but I'm just thinking we can plant more boxwoods and other trees of varying heights around what's there and end up with something pretty. A smorgasbord of plants that all sort of work together. More color like azaleas and camellias ... making sure to layer the plants for visual interest and add in some evergreens and colors.

Here are some of the inspiration photos I found on Pinterest. I would also love to know what plants have worked out really well for you!

7 comments:

Happy Thursday! The home we purchased in March has/had significant time and expense put in by the previous owner re: landscaping and plantings. Frankly, it's expensive just to maintain them but we're happy to have them! The perennials that seem to be doing really for us (and I realize we're a different climate but I think these would work for you) are our rosebushes, butterfly bushes, hosta, coneflowers and I could go on. Hydrangeas do well in our neighborhood too (and I LOVE them). Whenever I visit our summer house in NC, I always enviously check out this oak leaf hydrangea. GET YOU ONE. They are fabulous.Finally, to end this novel--do NOT pull it all out. It's so dang expensive to replace. See what you can add/subtract w/o having to redo it all! Good luck!

We moved into our current home last November - all the plants were on the down swing, and I was worried I'd have a hot mess to deal with come spring. I was pleasantly surprised, though, when things started to bloom! The previous owners had planted azaleas (in red and white) mixed in with hostas along the front, and a row of hydrangea along the far side of the house. Clipping back the hydrangea has been suuuuper beneficial in getting them to really get full and lush, and I'm planning to let the azalea grow a little big and wild, too. It can be difficult to get the "end game visualization" when you're working with new, small plants - drive through some neighborhoods and take some pics of looks that you like for inspo! (It'll also give you a bit of insight into what grows well in your zone.)

My husband and I own a landscaping company and in your scenario, we would recommend you remove the plants that are overgrown and do not fit your vision and add in new plants to create the landscape you desire! I personally like the look of some mature plants mixed in with new. I personally do not like when all the plants are brand new unless you purchase more mature (bigger $$$) plants. Good luck with your project! With your style, I know it will turn out beautiful!

I can't wait to see what you decide on! We also have just gotten to the outside of our house. I was super cheap this year and just moved around some vinca starters that were randomly growing, but we have some real work to tackle!

You could post your plants for sale on your local online yard sale page (or Craigslist)! Offer them free to whoever wants to come dig them up. We inherited some out-of-control rose bushes that were terrible with small children. I posted them for free, and within 2 days, they were completely gone and I didn't have to do any digging or pay anyone! Worked like a charm :-)

I would like to see what your already have, if it's a plant that you hate or it's too close to the house then remove it. Personally I hate when people rip everything out. There's value in mature landscaping and it's expensive to replace it all! Not to mention that sometimes not all newly planted shrubs will survive the first year. I also think houses look naked with all new dinky small plants. Lots of good tips and advice in the comments! Good luck!

We recently redid all of our landscaping and after ripping out about 10 large bushes, I was over it. I'm glad we did that work ourselves but we ended up paying the company to clean out and remove some areas that were too large. They also stayed and redid everything so that probably saved on some costs. Originally, we wanted to get rid of everything but realized it was really expensive so we kept what we could and just had the company clean it up. It's so worth it!